Use of percutaneous catheters to drain fluids from or inject fluids into a patient is known and is a well-accepted method for medical treatment. For example, when the passage between a kidney and the bladder is blocked, accepted treatment can be provided by catheterization of the kidney to drain urine. Catheterization involves initially using needles to insert a percutaneous catheter into the kidney with the blocked passage. The distal end of the inserted percutaneous catheter includes multiple openings for passing fluid to or from the percutaneous catheter. Retention of inserted percutaneous catheters in organs is facilitated by having the distal end of percutaneous catheters pre-stressed for formation of loops (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,094).
At locations where percutaneous catheters exit patients' bodies, anchoring to the skin of the percutaneous catheters can be provided by plastic plates held against the skin with adhesives while the percutaneous catheters are separately joined to the plates (e.g., see again U.S. Pat. No. 4,419,094). Known plastic plates for anchoring percutaneous catheter tubes to a patient's skin have included radial slits from the outer edge of the plates to the locations where the percutaneous catheters pass through the plates. The slits facilitate positioning of percutaneous catheters through the plates without having to be threaded through holes in the plates. Clamps have been used to join percutaneous catheters to plates. Alternatively, set screws have been used to fix the position of percutaneous catheters to plates. These previously known plates for anchoring percutaneous catheters have also included chambers in which gauze can be positioned about the percutaneous catheters at locations of entry to patients' bodies (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,968).
Systems for both anchoring percutaneous catheters to skin and for adjusting the length of percutaneous catheters in patients' bodies are also previously known (e.g., see U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,719).
The above known catheter systems and anchoring mechanisms for catheters fail to lend themselves to convenient repair when an external section or sections of an inserted percutaneous catheter is damaged. Damage of interest here defeats the purpose of an inserted percutaneous catheter. In addition to ruptured tube wall damage there is kinking damage which blocks passage of fluid through an inserted percutaneous catheter.